The 2024 Formula Drift season (officially titled and stylized as the Formula DRIFT PRO Championship) is the twenty-first season of the Formula D series. The season began on April 13 at Long Beach and concluded on October 19 at Irwindale Speedway after eight events.
This is the last Formula Drift season to feature the final event at Irwindale Speedway, after the track's announced permanent closure on October 29, 2024.[1] The season finale at Irwindale had been held since Formula D's inception in 2004.[2]
James Deane won the Drivers' Championship with four round wins, becoming the first and only four-time Formula D Champion.[3][4][5]
2023 PRO champion Chelsea DeNofa retired from the series, announcing his intention ahead of the final round in 2023. His seat at RTR Motorsports was taken by 2023 PROSPEC champion Ben Hobson.[45]
2023 PROSPEC runner-up Andy Hateley made his Formula Drift PRO debut.[46]
Hiroya Minowa joined Jerry Yang Racing with support from GT Radial Tires. At the start of the season, he was just 14 years old.[47]
After 2 seasons driving for RTR Motorsports, Adam LZ entered his own team running a single BMW E36. LZMFG only competed part-time in their debut FD season in order to run a full DMEC programme for 2024.
Two-time PROSPEC champion Dmitriy Brutskiy moved up to the PRO series.
Rudy Hansen moved up from the PROSPEC series, where he finished third in 2023.
2022 PROSPEC runner-up Derek Madison moved up to the PRO series.
2023 Drift Masters European Champion Conor Shanahan joined the series alongside defending his DMEC title. He will miss the second round at Road Atlanta due to a calendar clash with DMEC.[48]
Travis Reeder elected not to compete in the 2024 season.
Other changes
GT Radial, winners of the Tire Cup in 2023, renewed their partnership with the series for a further three years.[47]
Kumho entered the series as an official tire sponsor for 2024 and beyond.[46]
Pre-event qualifying was eliminated starting in 2024, so that all results across the weekend are determined by tandem drifting and not by solo runs.
The 24 highest classified drivers in the previous event are guaranteed a starting position at the next event and are seeded with the same results, so that the previous event winner is awarded the number 1 seed (equivalent to the top qualifier in previous seasons).
The remaining 8 seeding positions (25th through 32nd) are contested by up to 24 other drivers, including those who finished 25th or below in the previous round. Seeding within this group is determined by a Seeding Bracket, a knockout-style tandem drift competition of similar format to the main event, with the first-place finisher being awarded the 25th starting position in the main event.[50][51] All drivers score championship points; those eliminated during the Seeding Bracket are classified 33rd through 48th and receive 14 points.
In the main event, drivers proceed through a series of competition heats, with those eliminated in the first round (Top 32) receiving 28 points and classifying 17th through 32nd, the second round (Top 16) receiving 42 points and classifying 9th through 16th, the third round (Great 8) receiving 56 points and classifying 5th through 8th, and the fourth round (Final Four) classifying 3rd and 4th, both receiving 70 points. In the Final, the runner-up receives 84 points and the winner 100 points. Final classification within each round is then determined by highest seeding position; for example, of the two drivers eliminated in the Final Four, the driver who was seeded higher entering the event is awarded 3rd position and the final place on the podium.
In the event of a tie on points, the driver who classified higher in the most recent round will be awarded the higher position.[52]
For Round 1 at Long Beach, the final classification of the 2023 championship was used, with non-returning drivers Chelsea DeNofa (1st) and Kristaps Blušs (24th) skipped and the ranking reapplied so that Taylor Hull (25th) and Alec Robbins (26th) were seeded 23rd and 24th respectively, and guaranteed starting positions.
Auto Cup points are awarded each round to the two drivers with the highest classified finish for each manufacturer. To be eligible, both the chassis and engine must have been constructed by that manufacturer.
General Motors initially earned contributions from Chevrolet and Cadillac, but Cadillac were granted their own classification during the season and the points were adjusted.
^Only 31 drivers qualified for the main event at Utah. Sceriffo was the highest-qualified driver eliminated during the Seeding 16, earning 32nd place but 14 points.
^Only 31 drivers qualified for the main event at Irwindale. Brutskiy was the highest-qualified driver eliminated during the Seeding 16, earning 32nd place but 14 points.
^Forrest Wang received a bye run in the Seeding 16 at Seattle, but hit the wall and was unable to complete the run. He still advanced into the main event but only received 14 points instead of 28.
